Deputies arrested a 65-year-old man on a felony neglect charge Monday after they found his sister, whom he was caring for, living in a filthy, roach-infested apartment in Immokalee with little to eat or drink.John Ward, 65, 707 Breezewood Drive, Immokalee, was charged with neglect of an elderly or disabled adult without great harm.
Reports say Ward was his 84-year-old sister’s main caregiver. When deputies arrived at her one-bedroom apartment shortly before noon Monday she was wearing a dirty dress with no undergarments. She appeared malnourished, her skin draped across her bones, reports said.
She told deputies that the last time she ate was a bottle of water in the morning, reports said.
When a cookie was offered to her, she could barely place it in her mouth, reports said.
Inside the apartment deputies saw numerous roaches crawling across the floor and furniture, reports said.
When deputies opened the refrigerator, roaches were crawling inside. The only food in it was a box of chicken, reports said. In the freezer was a broken bottle of wine that had frozen and a plastic container with a pig’s ear inside, reports said.
